


Lost Honor, Unknown Purpose

by Slaskia



Series: Astral Aligned Continuity [54]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bigotry & Prejudice, Character Death, Fire, Harm to Children, Honor, Hurt, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Other, Post-War, Prophecy, Tags Contain Spoilers, Transformer Sparklings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:27:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29548593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slaskia/pseuds/Slaskia
Summary: Silverfire already has enough problems in her young life: a vengeful Dreadwing hellbent on resurrecting the Decepticon cause is one she could so without....
Relationships: Arcee/Starscream (Transformers), Ratchet/Jetfire (implied), Skywarp/Wheeljack (Transformers)
Series: Astral Aligned Continuity [54]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1018518
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Lost Honor, Unknown Purpose

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the very 'end' of what I had definitely planned for 'Astral Aligned'. Fair warning...this will contain some strong hints and spoilers for what happens between 'Calm before the Storm' and this one.

_Era: Post-War_

‘The war is over.’

That’s what everyone kept telling him. Dreadwing, however, did not believe so. A terrible injustice was done the day Lord Megatron was taken offline. Not only had he been betrayed by the one he thought was the most loyal, but the Matrix of Leadership…had chosen that cowardly, backstabbing _freak_ instead! That other freak, Phaseshot, must have used his magic to alter the Matrix…he was almost certain of it! At the very least, that... _creature…_ was no longer around to assist the traitors.

The new False Prime, however…was still very much around. And the first thing that freak did? Release from eternal imprisonment over a hundred other abominations like him! Cybertron may have been restored…but it has been quickly tainted by their presence. Primus must be spinning in his core with disgust!

Dreadwing knew he had to do something. This new ‘status quo’ could not stand! Unfortunately, the False Prime had that annoying immortality sigma and his bondmate had developed a similar annoyance. _Dealing_ with either of them directly was pointless.

He had attempted to search for and get in touch with other potentially like-minded individuals. Unfortunately, he found out the hard way that many those he thought supported the Decepticon cause, only did so out of fear of Megatron, or were simply tired of fighting. Couldn’t even get _Shockwave_ to hear him out: he suspected the scientist was being too closely monitored to risk his freedom, hence why he had been quickly told to ‘leave’ the moment the subject came up.

Coward.

So he was alone. Perhaps, there were still loyal Decepticons still out among the stars but did not wish to return to Cybertron when it was under Autobot rule. The chances the new government would try them for war crimes was high. Dreadwing himself was only pardoned because the False Prime ‘recognized’ his sense of honor and was ‘giving’ him a chance to do the right thing for the sake of Cybertron.

Fool. Mercy is for the weak…and Dreadwing intended to use that weakness against him. To show that the False Prime was not invincible.

He just needed the right opportunity….

\--

Old prejudices do not change overnight. 

That’s what her creators told her. Implying that it was much worse prior to the Great War. A war that nearly drove their kind to extinction.

Yet, even knowing, _understanding_ that, Silverfire still felt uncomfortable with the stares, such as the ones she was currently getting as she made her way to the new park. The judging, questioning looks. That creeping sensation in the back of her processor that they felt she didn’t belong in this society.

It was worse if they saw her alt-form. The gasps of horror…the screams of panic…cries of ‘predacon’ or ‘monster’, before security is called. Fortunately, everyone on security knew who she was…and matters were quickly cleared up.

Still Silverfire was quite tired of it. One would think that after nearly ten vorns, the whole _planet_ would know about her considering who her _creators_ were. Perhaps that was part of the problem considering-

“Hey sis!”

She gasped she was tackle-hugged, barely able to adjust her footing in time to keep them both from tumbling to the ground.

“Nightwing…,” she groaned as pried her twin sister off. “I’ve asked you not to do that….”

The black and blue seeker merely stuck out her glossa at her before remarking. “You took so long to get here….”

“Yeah, well, _walking_ takes longer than _flying_ you know,” Silverfire retorted with sigh. “And I didn’t want to cause a scare.”

Nightwing was rolling her optics. “They won’t get _used_ to you flying around if you don’t…you know… _fly around_. Plus….” Her sister poked her in the forehead. “Creator Arcee is starting to get frustrated about you skimping out on combat lessons.”

“You know why, Night,” she grumbled walking deeper into the park. “She wants me to learn to fight in my alt-form…which I’d rather be in as little as possible.”

“But if you don’t learn how to fight in it…you’ll be in trouble if-“

“Are we going to check out this park or not?” Silverfire interrupted harshly, not in the mood for this argument. Thankfully, her twin had put up her hands in surrender, though the sigh she made and the look in her optics hinted that the subject was not completely dropped, only delayed. With a sigh of her own, Silverfire walked into the park proper, her sister right beside her.

The park was a large area the Prime had designated as a recreation and relaxation area, though a sizeable part of it was designed for sparklings in mind. That area had a number of various pieces of equipment designed for said sparklings to play with and climb over. It also included smaller versions of racetracks and even a lake for sparklings to practice using their alt-forms on.

There were a couple of sparklings on said equipment right now, squealing with excitement as they explored the equipment. Silverfire would have been surprised, considering the next spark-shower wasn’t predicted to be for another couple of deca-vorns, but she knew those two: Skywheel and Skyjack, a pair of sparkborns like herself and Nightwing. She also knew who their creators were and after a quick look around, she spotted a familiar light-blue, white and dark-blue seeker sitting on the ground, his red optic watching the sparklings like a cyberhawk.

~Looks like Thunderclash got stuck sparklingsitting again,~ she remarked privately to Nightwing.

~Not surprised,~ Nightwing acknowledged with a giggle. ~Even Uncle Skywarp needs a break once in a while.~

Silverfire had to chuckle at that herself, recalling how their own creator found it ‘amusing’ that the normally high-energy Skywarp had trouble keeping up with his creations. Well, to be fair…he and his bondmate Wheeljack had _three_ sparklings…and Wheeljack was often out of the home helping rebuild society, from what she understood. Thankfully, Thunderclash, a wellborn they adopted from the first sparkshower after the end of the war, often came by to assist. What _didn’t_ help, however, was that the bitlits were at the age where they were particularly hard to control…and were starting to learn to speak. 

She only knew this…because their own creators were _not_ shy with telling them about how much _trouble_ they both were at that age. Silverfire was told she liked telling them ‘no’ when they told her to stop doing something she wasn’t supposed to. She could only imagine how many ‘no’s’ were being shouted back by those three.

Come to think of it, were _was_ their third sparkling, Wheelwarp? As they approached Thunderclash, she spotted the little black, grey and green grounder nestled between his legs. He was currently attempting to grab at the datapad Thunderclash was holding.

“No, no…,” Thunderclash was sighing. “You already made me lose my place once….”

“You know it’s futile to try to study while trying to keep an optic on your siblings,” Nightfire said teasingly.

“Yeah…I know,” the light blue seeker sighed. “I have an exam tomorrow though….”

“Are you seriously trying to cram the cycle before?” Silverfire asked him as they sat beside him. 

“Yeah, ‘Clash, I thought you knew better than that,” Nightwing said scoldingly. 

Thunderclash was rolling his optics. “I’ve been studying every cycle, every opportunity I get,” he countered. “Keeping an optic on these three right now….” He sighed and rubbed his face, nothing more needing to be said on that subject. “How’s your own studies going, Night?”

“Pretty good!” Nightwing replied with a grin. “Ratchet’s an excellent, if not a bit grumpy, teacher!”

“Good to hear. I’ve hearing rumors about his bondmate, Jetfire.” There was a smirk on the seeker’s face. “Any chance you can confirm or deny?”

“Sorry, can’t even confirm if they are even _trying_ for sparklings,” Nightfire stated with a shrug.

“Ah, darn…my Caretakers have a small betting pool going over it,” Thunderclash sighed before looking at her.

Ugh…she knew what was coming next, Silverfire mentally braced herself.

“Have you chosen a field of study yet, Silver?”

“No,” she replied bluntly. “My alt-form limits my options…”

There was a snort of disappointment from both Thunderclash and her sister. “Your alt-form shouldn’t define your function, what you want to do in your life,” Thunderclash was telling her, Nightwing nodding in agreement.

“Your alt-from is not a-“ she started to retort hotly when she was interrupted by a particularly load screech from one of the other two sparklings.

It looked like Skyjack had gotten bored of the equipment and now the white and purple seekerling was roughly tussling with his sister, Skywheel. Just as Thunderclash was starting to get up to break up the fight, the little grey and red triple-changer decided to break it up herself by transforming into jet mode and flying off. Skyjack, with an excited trill, transformed himself and took chase.

“Oh Primus…not again,” Thunderclash groaned as the two sparklings flew further and further away. “Night…can you help me catch them?”

“Sure thing. Sis, can you watch Wheelwarp?”

“Sure,” Silverfire agreed, said sparkling already crawling into her lap. She watched as Nightwing and Thunderclash both ran off after the two wayward sparklings. Looking down at the little grounder, she saw he was looking up at her with bright cyan optics, intake agape with awe.

“Compared to your brother and sister…you just be a godsend to your creators,” she remarked as she gently stroked the sparkling’s head. Wheelwarp was churring in response, the sparkling pressing against her for more. She happily obliged.

_I wonder if you feel out of place…with most of your family being fliers._ Perhaps he was too young to feel such things. Lucky him…she wished she could remember that blissful time of her own sparklinghood. The time before she became aware there were those that disliked her because of how she looked….

_I hope you never go through what I am going through…._ At the very least, he had a normal alt-mode: the only thing about him people could go after him for was for being a sparkborn.

Unlike her, she was both a sparkborn _and_ a-

A crack behind her interrupted her thoughts, making her flinch. It couldn’t be Thunderclash or her sister: she could see them both still chasing after Skyjack and Skywheel in the distance. The energon in her lines feeling a bit chilled, she picked up Wheelwarp and held him close as she stood up and turned around.

There in the shadows was the hulking form of the former Decepticon called Dreadwing. He seemed surprised, those red optics looking at Wheelwarp. This left her with a bad feeling in her tank: was he expecting her to be alone?

“Dreadwing…can I help you?” she asked, hesitantly.

The large seeker was now looking at her, a frown forming on his face, glimpses of indecision in his optics. Then that frown turned into a scowl as one large hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck. Silverfire gasped in shock, reflexively gripping his arm, but dropping Wheelwarp in the process. The sparkling landed with a faint ‘oof’ on the ground between them and started whining in distress.

“What are you…,” Silverfire wheezed, her vision already starting to blurr, she clawed at his arm, pulled on his fingers to try to break free, but he was stronger than her.

“With your death…I will show that the False Prime is not untouchable…,” Dreadwing was sneering. “Lord Megatron will be avenged…and the Decepticons will rise again!”

_This bot is mad!_

“Why do...bad bots...have to…monologue!?” Silverfire hissed kicking at him futilely. No good, at this rate she will black out due to poor air circulation and reduced energon flow to her processor. She attempted to get her sister’s attention telepathically, but she was out of range. _Comms…if I can reach my comms…._

“Bad!” a little voice squeaked below her. She couldn’t see the sparkling but could almost see him smacking the seeker’s leg.

_Wheelwarp no…run!_

There was a sickening sound of metal twisting and tearing. Dreadwing howled in pain, his grip on her releasing as he backed away several paces. Silverfire collapsed to the ground, taking in previous intakes of air as her vision cleared up. When she looked up at Dreadwing, she saw he was holding his arm, his face twisted into an expression of pain and disbelief.

His arm…it was mangled and twisted…what the frag?

“Bad!” Wheelwarp repeated, pointing at Dreadwing with a little finger. “Go time out!”

“Little freak!” Dreadwing roared, his face twisted into fury. Before she could even reaction, the seeker had kicked the sparkling. Wheelwarp flew several meters before landing, thankfully, upon some soft sand. However, the little one was curled into a ball, wailing in pain.

This infuriated her.

“My creators told me you were one that had some honor,” Silverfire growled, getting to her feet. “Looks like they were wrong!” Rage overwhelming her, she felt herself start to transform, becoming a large wyvern. When she next spoke, it was in a deep growl. “You have no honor!”

Dreadwing’s optics were now wide, a hint of fear shining with them. Then he closed them, fear replaced by resignation. “So the day has come, has it?” he growled lowly, his optics opening. “Then let us see if that freak’s prophecy will truly come to pass!”

_What is he talking about?_ Her rage was briefly replaced by confusion. Silverfire didn’t get a chance to ponder over it however, as Dreadwing was charging at her. She was barely able to duck her head in time to avoid a punch to the snout.

Silverfire lunged at him, attempting to knock him down by ramming him with her head. However, she barely budged him and in retaliation, Dreadwing had brought a fist down upon her head. Her vision briefly clouded by static, she stumbled away stunned, the seeker laughing.

“Is this the best the creation of the False Prime can do!?” he taunted.

With a hiss, she whipped her tail him, scoring a scratch on his chest. Before she could bring it back, Dreadwing had caught it, then pulled. Silverfire screeched, her claws leaving gouges in the ground as she was dragged, before she finally lost her grip and was thrown into some of the playground equipment.

“I’ve had better fights with a scraplet….” Dreadwing was sneering. “Your Pitspawn creators were both far better than you! What an embarrassment!”

_I’m not even ten vorns old, what do you expect, afthole!_ She was starting to regret skipping out on combat classes. Ugh, why did her chest feel warm? Was she damaged?

A whimper drew her attempt. Looking over she saw it was Wheelwarp, still curled into a ball…and too close to the battle. Seeing him reminded her of what Dreadwing did…and tried to do.

That warm sensation was hotter now.

~Sis!~ Nightwing’s mental voice called out.

~Night!~ she called back gratefully as she put herself between the sparkling and Dreadwing. ~Wheelwarp is hurt…get him out of here!~

She heard her sister approach via her alt-form as she charged at Dreadwing. This time she attacked with her wingclaws, scoring a few deep cuts on the seeker’s chassis before Dreadwing seized her by the throat.

“Better, but still futile,” Dreadwing stated before slamming her head and neck to the ground, the rest of her following suite. “I think it’s time to end this.”

~Silver, security is on the way!~

_They won’t make it…._

He had her on her back and was standing on her wing membranes, effectively keeping her wingarms out of reach of his chassis. Her legs were stuck behind him and he was ignoring the blows from her tail. Now he was pulling out a large sword. Where did he get that? From what she understood, because of his status he wasn’t allowed to have any weapons!

She was going to die…she didn’t want to die!

“Don’t worry beast…I’ll be sure to send your sister to join you in the Pit!” Dreadwing was saying as he raised the sword high.

_No! You leave my sister alone!_ That feeling in her chest was now boiling hot as she roared. A roar that was followed by something bright white and blue…and very hot. It hit Dreadwing square in the head and upper chest and the seeker started screaming and flailing in agony. He fell silent after only a couple of nanos.

The flailing stopped a nano later as the white fire stopped shooting out of her mouth. Molten droplets of metal dripping off the half-melted frame of what was once Dreadwing and hitting her chassis.

Oh Primus…what did…what _has_ she done?

In panic, she managed to knock him off with her tail, Dreadwing’s body falling with a lifeless thud as she righted herself. Panic was then replaced by pain as she came to be aware of how hot her mouth was. With a cry of pain, she loped to the lake and plunged her head into it, hot steam erupting around her. After a few nanos, it didn’t feel so hot, but she was still in a bit of pain as she lifted her head out of the water.

First thing she saw was her sister and Thunderclash, whom were both running toward her. In each of their arms once one of the triplets, but Wheelwarp wasn’t one of them.

“Wheelwarp?” she asked when they got to her. Gah…it hurt a bit to talk….

“Skywarp popped in and took him almost the moment I called him,” Thunderclash replied. “Took him straight to medical.”

Silverfire sighed with relief: Wheelwarp was going to be alright.

“Are you alright, sis?” Nightwing was asking.

“My mouth hurts…,” she confessed as security finally arrived and started clearing the area of the onlookers that had started to gather.

“Not surprised…that was a very hot fire you used on him,” Thunderclash remarked. “White…is among the hottest…if not _the_ hottest.”

“Excuse me,” a security officer announced. “Unless you are involved or a witness, I’d ask for you to step outside the crime scene.”

After they informed the officer that they were all involved in some way, they had to give statements. When that was done, Silverfire was given medical treatment for her burns, then taken to the station for further questioning. Thankfully, it was Jazz that did the interview: she was quickly cleared of wrongdoing and was released.

Before heading home, she checked in on Wheelwarp. The little guy was a tough one like his creator Wheeljack: he was a bit dented and sore but would be fine. Still, due to his age, he was being kept overnight as a precaution. Silverfire had tried to apologize to Skywarp for what happened while she was there, but the seeker waved it off, telling her the one responsible was ‘in the Pit where he belonged’. 

Perhaps that was true…but why did Primus arrange it so that _she_ was the one that sent him there? Didn’t she already have enough problems being accepted? Now she had energon on her hands: she could already hear the calls for ‘the beast to be locked up to protect society’….

Silverfire went straight to her room the moment she got home. She wanted to talk Arcee, but she wasn’t home. Both Arcee and Bumblebee were on Earth conducting trade negotiations and wouldn’t be back home for a couple more cycles.

She really wanted to tell her creator that she had been right. If she had taken combat training to learn how to fight in her alt-form, she may have not ended up killing Dreadwing in such a horrible way. Maybe she would have been able to hold out until security got there and took him out themselves.

Who was she kidding? Even she _had_ been trained, Dreadwing was a war veteran: he would have kicked her aft regardless….

There was a polite knock, then the sound of the door opening. “Silver?” a familiar voice called out.

She looked up to the see her other creator standing in the threshold. Starfire Prime, or Star _scream_ as he was once called, was regarding her with worry and compassion in his optics. At once, she started sobbing and within nanos, her creator was there, holding her in his arms in an embrace.

“Oh, Silver,” he whispered to her soothingly. “I was told what happened…I’m so sorry I couldn’t have been there for you….”

“You…have a planet to run….” Silverfire reminded him.

“No excuse when your creation is in trouble,” he told her bluntly. “If I had known the moment it happened, I would have flown there and ripped the bastard’s spark out myself.” 

In a way, she was glad he _hadn’t_ shown up. He meant well, but more often than not the Prime caused more problems when it came to trouble involving his family. To the point there was a _rumor_ going around that security were told _not_ to inform him of such issues until the initial investigation was complete….

“But that was not meant to be…,” her creator was lamenting with a sigh. “For his death was predicted long ago….”

She recalled the strange phrase Dreadwing had spoken during their fight. “’Predicted…’,” she echoed. “He mentioned something about a prophecy after he saw my wyvern form….”

“Towards the end of the war, a being known as Phaseshot started helping us,” Starfire started to explain. “He was able to see the future and often annoyed us with his vague metaphors and prophecies on what was to come. Dreadwing, at their first encounter…was told he would ‘die by the hottest of flames’. He was later informed that he would know the time came when he ‘lost the last of his honor’.”

Silverfire pulled away to look her creator in the optics. “When he hurt Wheelwarp…,” she began.

“He sealed his fate,” her creator confirmed. “Those that harm sparklings…have no honor.”

She pulled away completely and walked over to the window, her processor reeling. “You’re saying that…this day was fated to come… _decided_ …before I was even created?” she remarked bitterly. “That I had no _choice_.”

“You are not the first, nor would be the last to say such a thing, my dear,” Starfire stated, the Prime now standing beside her. “Phaseshot told us we always had a choice and he deliberately withheld knowledge sometimes to ensure it…but sometimes he would ‘hint’ at things to steer us into a more ‘preferable’ direction for the grand scheme of things.”

“Where is he now? I would have loved to have had some ‘hints’ to avoid this horrible day….”

There was a deep, sad sigh from her creator. “Unfortunately, he chose to join my predecessor in the Allspark when his time came to an end, rather than to return to his home plane.” She felt his hand on her shoulder. “Things happen for a reason, Silverfire…that was something he often said...and I’ve come to believe it myself. For instance, would we have discovered little Wheelwarp’s sigma if it wasn’t for that encounter?”

Her optics widened, recalling what happened to Dreadwing’s arm. “A sigma?” she said, looking at him. “So it really was him that messed up Dreadwing’s arm?”

“Indeed,” Starfire confirmed with a smile. “Wheeljack’s dubbed it ‘Distortion’ and was happy it was discovered that way than say…in an accident at home…or his lab….”

She felt a shudder go down her strut at the thought: Wheeljack had a lot of potentially dangerous things in his lab on a _good_ day from what she heard. 

“He has a future career in engineering…construction…frag even medical depending on well he can control it,” the Prime remarked.

“Glad he has a solid future ahead of him…,” Silvefire sighed, folding her arms on the windowsill and leaning her chin on them. “Me…all I learned is that I can kill someone by melting them into a pile of slag in a few nanos.”

“Fire…even the hottest of fire…can be used to create as well as destroy, Silver,” Starfire told her softly. “I believe there are other reasons why Primus gave you such a hot flame, you just have to find it.”

“True but…what about my reputation?” she asked softly, looking out the window and down at the streets below. “Word will spread I killed someone…whether or not it was ‘justified’ may not matter to those that don’t trust me already due to what I am….”

“You build a positive reputation by being out there doing positive things.” She was told. “You can’t do that….”

“If I avoid the public…I get it….,” Silverfire sighed. “Guess I’ll start flying more like Night suggested…so people will get ‘used’ to seeing my alt-form….”

“And after Arcee returns home?”

“I’ll stop avoiding combat lessons for my alt-form…maybe take more advanced once for my normal form too….” She did _not_ want to resort to _melting_ her opponent again if she could help it.

Her creator was giving her a proud smile as he hugged her. “I will not say it will be easy, but you do have your family behind you, I promise you that,” he said, giving her a head rub before letting her go. 

“Do not worry about your ‘reputation’ in regard to Dreadwing,” he stated, his tone serious, as he headed for the door. “Once the public finds out he willfully harmed a sparkling…what goodwill he may have had will be as good as slag. Goodnight, Silver.”

“Night Star….,” she said back. After the door closed once more, she looked back out the window, this time toward the horizon.

Things happen for a reason. Perhaps…the reason for this day was to finally give her the kick in the aft she needed to stop letting fear prevent her from finding her purpose in life.

It was out there somewhere, waiting for her to find it….

**Author's Note:**

> OK, since this is the 'end' of the timeline as it stands, with no plans to do any further with all the new characters I've introduced...here's some info on them and other details:
> 
> \- Silverfire and Nightwing are twin creations of Starfire (Starscream) Prime and Arcee and are around 8-9 vorns old.  
> \- Silverfire (since she was never described) is black/silver with blue accents. Optics light blue with cyan rings. She's also the very first OC I came up with when I started writing this continuity (yes, before Kaddrocrom/Phaseshot...at least, before I decided to bring him back and make him take a Cybertronian form)  
> \- Wheelwarp, Skyjack and Skywheel are triplets created by Skywarp and Wheeljack (yes...they are _terrible_ at naming their kids :P) and are roughly 2-3 orns old (equivalent of the 'terrible twos')  
> \- Thunderclash is the sparkling Skywarp and Wheeljack adopt in 'Keeper'. He's about 11 vorns now.  
> \- A sparkborn is a Cyberontian that is created by the melding of two other sparks (though the process is a little more complicated then that....). Wellborns, are traditionally created bots via the Well of the Allspark.  
> \- All the human characters from the show have since passed away (it's been at least 143ish Earth years since the war ended....).  
> \- 'Starfire' may not stay as Starscream's 'Prime' name...it's just the one that's sticking at the moment.  
> \- What fueled Silverfire's fire? Dicyanoacetylene, which burns at 6k - 9kF depending on the atmosphere.  
> \- I only have 'some' concept for one of these new characters, Silverfire...namely her alt-form. I'll be posting that shortly....  
> \- Both Wheelwarp and Nightwing become medics. Thunderclash an engineer. Rest, I don't know yet.


End file.
